The year 2018 marks the Whooping Cranes Photo Credit: Stan Tekeila centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most powerful and important bird-protection law ever passed. In honor of this milestone, nature lovers around the world are joining forces to celebrate the “Year of the Bird” and commit to protecting birds today and for […]
Blog Category: Great Animal Stories
Defending the Kids
Defending the Kids Piping plovers are endangered and they like the same beaches we humans do…and at the same time. This can cause some tense and dangerous moments for both the parents and young chicks. I was recently at the beach watching a Piping plover family. The parents had to constantly maneuver their nearly uncontrollable […]
On the Wind and a Prayer
How do butterflies and moths travel great distances? According to an article from the BBC researchers have discovered that on those warm summer nights,there are thousands of butterflies and moths traveling in winds up to 60 mph above us. They may look fragile, but these beautiful creatures have a navigation system that makes for the […]
Innocent Bystander
The Chicago Tribune wrote this story about a hawk who had gone to her roost for the night, expecting to have a cool but quiet nights rest. Sadly for her, she was sleeping in a tree that happened to be near the location where a small plane crashed, killing both passengers. Upon impact, the plane […]
Ancient Desert Crocodiles
Ok, so maybe 100 million years ago, the Sahara Desert was a little more wet than it is now, and so we shouldn’t be too surprised to see that there were giant crocodiles that lived there when it was known as Gondwana. Nowadays we get excited when we see a crocodile that is over 20 […]
Angel in New Jersey
You may not be happy about your neighbor feeding cats that roam through your yard and attack the resident bird population. Often this starts out as just someone feeling sorry for a kitten they see that needs a meal. The next thing you know, there is a colony of a dozen or more cats hanging […]
Best Friends
One of the few things remaining that some people are convinced make humans different than other animals is the ability to have preferences or feelings. But, this is becoming more and more difficult to defend as there are numerous first-hand stories that refute this claim. This video from CBS News about an elephant in an […]
Sounds of Nature
Nature configures itself in interesting ways that have meaning and speak to us where we are. So it was for Jarbas Agnelli, a Brazilian musician, who saw music in the pattern of birds on wires. Letting the visual pattern the birds made on the wires be the notes, the outcome of this one photo frame […]
The Anxious Garden
There’s a lot of stress in my garden. This is not a good sign for a garden, but it’s the birds who are causing it. It took me awhile to figure out what was happening, but after listening to a day’s worth of anxious chirping by a female cardinal, I looked to see if there […]
Just Getting Going at 90
It is true that some species have a different life time frame than humans. Most are much shorter – some, like macaws and elephants – pretty much mirror ours at around 80 years. But many tortoise and turtles along with horseshoe crabs and a variety of other animals make us look like mortal pikers. George, […]
A Grrrreat way to Remember Michael Jackson
Many years ago I made a film at the the Shambala Preserve run by actress Tippi Hedren. This is a great place that takes in unwanted big cats – really big ones – like lions, tigers and leopards. She and the terrific staff provide an exceptional environment in which big cats – many of whom […]
Raptors on the Roof
I was having breakfast on our roofdeck this morning with my husband and we were enjoying a gorgeous summer day. Directly across from us on the next building there was a lot of commotion. A mockingbird was doing aerobatics flying at another bird on the roof. We got our binoculars to see what it was […]
Peregrine Falcon Fledges in Boise
The first baby Peregrine falcon in the nest closely watched by the nestcam sponsored by The Peregrine Fund has fledged! Watch lift off and the rocky moments of his first flight here: Baby Peregrine Fledges Wildtones supports The Peregrine Fund
He Otter Make Some Music
I logged into my Facebook account tonight to discover that there was a post from my friend, Shirley McGreal who runs the International Primate Protection League in South Carolina. During the days when Shirley lived in Thailand (which is where she started helping primates over 30 years ago), she developed a love for Asian short-clawed […]
A Happy Family of Rescues cared for by a Greyhound
Wait a minute…don’t greyhounds chase rabbits and small animals? Hmmm….someone needs to tell this greyhound that she needs to get with the program. Or…maybe not. She seems to be at peace with her lot in life and happy to share the gentler side of being a greyhound with everyone she comes in contact. Enjoy this […]